Draconia Offline vol. 1

26.3. Not to Trifle With - Part 3

"Let's tell them," I nod and try to smile confidently.

In the meanwhile, Ingri put everyone onto the laptop so we can have a proper conference call now. We sit closer to each other and call everyone again.

"So...," I say slowly. "I put my trust in you guys. Make sure you're really alone and listen..."

I start by telling them about my Mom's research, me being her test subject as a child and then... about my telepathy. They are astonished, of course, but they keep absorbing everything until I finish talking and give them space to react.

"Our Emperor is truly miraculous!" Gotrid is genuinely excited.

"Which is still a problem," Deminas is frowning. "Even bigger than we thought we had before."

"So Aefener's effortless magic might be connected to that," Gin is pondering. "His brain wasn't quite human from the beginning."

"Aefener, dear, thank you for telling us," Twyla is grateful. "I imagine it must have been hard."

"They're taking it well," Emi nudges me, content. "I knew they would."

"Considering we're all new species now, telepathy isn't so hard to digest I guess," Werden shrugs. "But I agree with Deminas, you have to be extremely careful, Aefener. We're all rulers but you're the most visible figure—the face of Draconia. Literally all eyes are on you."

"Okay, since we're all here anyway, let's have that meeting together," Liana decides after I finally answer all curious questions.

I'm relieved that the topic shifts away from me so I can finally relax a bit. I'm glad that they took it so well. It feels like coming out in a sense. And maybe it is for a telepath.

It felt good to tell them, right? Erik speaks to me in his thoughts while Ingri is discussing new Earthborn abilities with Twyla and Werden.

It did, I admit. My quest for openness is going surprisingly well.

You really call it a quest? Nerd! he laughs in his head.

"So you can see what it looks like when Aefener isn't truly listening and is rather talking telepathically with his boyfriend," Liana pokes me, annoyed. "No spacing out during an important meeting, you two!"

Twyla giggles while Deminas shares my Viceroy's annoyance.

"Sorry," I mumble, embarrassed.

The meeting continues and it actually saves us time to discuss things together. However, I can't miss how differently we think about various issues. And it goes way beyond just differences in opinions. Each race has a totally opposite view on things.

Twyla and Werden bring up ecology for some reason, irrelevantly to the topic, Deminas and Fefnir put way too much emphasis on training our new abilities, Emi and Gin can't shut up about our freedom of movement and Liana and Gotrid are mostly concerned about politics.

We end the phone call when we realise it's 4 P.M. already and we still have to brainstorm our arguments for tomorrow.

"We should establish regular meetings from now on," Werden suggests. "I know that it might be problematic because of different time zones but we should be able to find a reasonable slot."

"Staying in touch then," Liana says goodbye and hangs up. "Let's continue in the briefing room, we need a proper table. Do you feel better, Aefener? Can you walk?"

"I think so. The food is certainly doing its job," I pat my stomach.

We leave the apartment and Liana spends a while telling the bodyguards that they have to really watch over who's touching me. All of us for that matter.

"Right, anyone stupid enough to pull my tail will get it," Emi proudly shows off her claws.

"I think everyone got the message," Fefnir grins. "I don't think anyone would rip off Aefener's feather ever again after what happened to that poor guy."

"Heidan," Julia repeats his name.

"Can I visit him later?" I ask. "I'd like to apologise again."

"Sure, tomorrow. He's sleeping now, I gave him some pills," Dr Stein nods. "Actually, I'll go check up on him. I have two Earthborn helpers now but they're just medical students," she says goodbye and leaves.

I'm a bit afraid to step out of the elevator when we arrive at the floor where Liana's office is situated. What if everyone becomes scared of me? I don't think I'd be able to filter such an avalanche of fear and possibly even hatred.

But the hall is unexpectedly calm. We meet several Draconians who got their job assignments here but they respectfully go out of our way without a flinch in their emotional state when seeing me. We also meet a few human employees and they're quite wary but nothing too overwhelming fortunately.

I almost think we'll make it without an incident but when we turn around the corner, we spot at least two dozen Celestials stepping nervously in front of Liana's office. They beam at us and immediately flock all around. Our bodyguards have to work really hard to keep them off our wings at least.

"They're finally back!"

"Are you okay, Your Majesty? Didn't that jerk hurt you too badly?"

"He was sooo asking for it!"

"Your magic is as proficient as ever."

They push a little bit too much and I can feel Liana is getting seriously pissed. I bet she ordered that nobody without a proper clearance should enter this floor and these Celestials don't look like office types at all.

"Li, something's not right here," Fefnir pulls her sleeve in all that commotion. "Where's your security?"

For a few seconds, I don't know what he's talking about. Our bodyguards are standing next to us, right? Then I notice that I don't see those regular lower-tier security guards that should be patrolling every corridor, especially the CEO's office.

I try to calm my mind down as I was learning during my meditation sessions with Julia and filter that excessive Celestial excitement that is preventing me from feeling pretty much anything else. And then I feel it—three humans behind the crowd, scared shitless. I touch my Viceroy to quickly convey it to her.

"Silence!" Liana loses her cool and shouts.

The Celestials go silent which isn't that surprising really. Liana's authority is undeniable. She orders them to step aside so that we can reach the other side. And there they are—three security guards crouching and shivering, almost on the verge of tears. I can't imagine our bodyguards in a similar position but these poor men are nowhere near their level, that's for sure. They're just regular employees with tasers and walkie-talkies.

"W-what the...?" Liana widens her eyes, not quite sure what the hell she's looking at. "What are you doing? Why did you let so many people in?"

"M-Madam Richter," a bald man in a security uniform is stuttering and sweating a lot. "T-they... insisted and... t-they... t-took our equipment," he gulps.

"You serious?" Liana is getting angry. "Are you total amateurs or what?!"

"T-they... used telekinesis... we couldn't do anything," another security guy says and he's at the point of mental breakdown.

Liana looks at the crowd of Celestials in disbelief. Did they really use their abilities to disarm and intimidate the security? Just like that? And why?

"What the fuck?!" she swears. "Did you go completely nuts, people?" she shouts at the Draconians. "These men are helping us, morons! They're my employees."

"Your Excellency, we shouldn't rely on humans," one of the Celestials says confidently. I recognise him. He came to the mansion in the first batch of refugees. I recall his level was quite high.

"What do you mean?" not even Liana knows how to react to that. The situation is too surreal.

"It's simple really," he smiles. "We're volunteering for the Imperial Guard."